Tinuom nga Bangrus

On the 3rd week of our National Heroes' Day Cookfest, I chose Tinuom. I would like to believe that our revolutionary heroes who were on the go had tinuom because of the abundance of bananas in our country as well as other edible plants with large leaves like the gabi.

Tinuom is from the word tuom. It means a viand is cooked wrapped in leaves like banana leaves. One can tuom chicken, mushrooms, fish and other seafoods. There are two festivals in Panay that celebrate this way of cooking, in Cabatuan, Iloilo and in Madalag, Aklan.

My father would tuom a whole milkfish cutting it into a butterfly and stuffing it with tomatoes and onions and closing it and then wrapping it with banana leaves many times. He would then  grill it via the oven toaster. The outcome would be an aromatic milkfish cooked in its own plus the spices' juice.

Another time when I couldn't forget tinuom was when my housemate who was in her first trimester was having cravings, and she requested for a tinoum nga uhong or mushroom. The fresh mushrooms and tomatoes and onions were wrapped in banana leaves and roasted in charcoal fire. This particular tinuom must have stuck in my memory because when the tinuom was cooked, my housemate just ate a little and passed it on to me almost untouched. Everyone on the table were saying that I shouldn't eat it because of some superstitions I couldn't recall by now. But there I was eating all in gusto while listening to a lot of oppositions from my other housemates.

And before I wrap up (pun happily intended), I also met this method of cooking in the legend of Isla de Gigantes. Check here. https://footandfire.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-legend-of-isla-gigantes-in-carles.html?m=0

The recipe

TINUOM NGA BANGRUS

2 pcs milkfish or bangrus, sliced to serving sizes
2 thumbs ginger, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
4 cloves garlic
2 stalks of lemongrass
2 onions, sliced
1 Taud Ilahas chili, sliced
3 cups water from rinsing rice
Salt and crushed peppercorns
Young banana leaves
Banana midrib, stripped for tying
2 cups Water from rinsing rice

In a glass bowl, place fish and the next 6 ingredients. Add 2 cups rice water and add salt and crushed peppercorns

In a wide deep dish, place wide young banana leaves, arrange 2-3 servings of fish with the spices and rice water. Gather the edges of the leaves and tie with the stripped midrib. Repeat until all fishes are wrapped.

In a casserole, arrange the parcels and add rice water. Season to taste.  

Let cook for 15 minutes in medium fire and simmer in low fire for another 15 minutes.

Let cool a bit and serve the parcel with rice.